“When looking back at the fintech revolution, the year 2020 will no doubt prove a turning point; the year in which fintech firms were propelled forward and advanced several years in just a few short months,” said Andreas Simou, managing director and Fintech Leaders Advisory Board member at CeFPro.
IBM was able retain its top spot in the ranking as a result of “its diversity and range of fintech offerings,” while Moody’s Analytics, Oracle and SAS were able to stay in the top five of the list of top 50 organizations in the space.
According to the report, the top 10 fintech leaders in 2021 are:
- IBM
- Moody’s Analytics
- Oracle
- SAS
- Wolters Kluwer
- FIS
- Bloomberg
- Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters)
- Amazon/AWS
- MetricStream
Those surveyed in the paper say there was an “overwhelming consensus” the pandemic directly impacted the trajectory of the fintech industry. However, it notes, the extent of that impact is “subject to much debate and discussion.”
COVID-19 has resulted in 103 million case and 2.24 million deaths as of press time, per data provided by Google, compiled from government health entities, Wikipedia and other sources.
FROM TWITTER
Global FinTech Series @FinTech_Series Jan 28
'@CSIsolutions’s 2021 Banking Priorities Executive Report: Cybersecurity Threats and Digital Transformation Top of Mind on the Heels of a Pandemic http://ow.ly/SMUY30ruy0U #Tech #Technology #finance"
The pandemic was, unsurprisingly, cited as a major catalyst for change in the industry and said to have contributed to a “seismic shift” in the priorities of fintech players. The report notes that digital and mobile services jumped from fourth to the first “key opportunity” in the fintech space. Notably, moving down on the list, though, was artificial intelligence, which dropped from second all the way down to fifth in that same “key opportunity” category.
“Previous Fintech Leaders surveys and reports indicated a shift towards automation and the use of data and advanced analytics, specifically artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, for increased competitive advantage and cost reductions,” according to the report. “The key fintech opportunities across the industry were part of a process already in place, with increasing digitalization, mobile services, and remote access integral to customer expectations; remote access is now expected as standard by consumers.”
The report also states partnerships are now generally considered less threatening in the fintech adoption arena as only 42% of those asked consider it a “very important” or “most significant” obstacle. Last year, those two categories added up to 63%. The report indicates key players are warmer to the mutual benefits of business relationships between incumbents, challengers and tech companies. The emerging viewpoint is that fintechs are widely considered more agile and responsive to change, while banks operate in more rigid regulatory environments and thus have stricter guidelines and standards to adhere to.
“The continued growth of fintech means that businesses have never been at greater danger for disruption, but it also means there has never been a better time to expand, partner, and/or acquire,” said Michael Middleton, head of content strategy at Markov Processes International and Fintech Leaders Advisory Board member at CeFPro.
